The debugging of electronic hardware requires a complex arrangement of test probes, cables and equipment connecting the device under test to the measurement equipment. Complex test and measurement devices, and oscilloscopes in particular, are by their very nature, multi-use instruments used for a variety of tasks. Oscilloscopes are fundamentally a tool to be able to look at a signal's voltage or current on the y-axis versus time in the x-axis.
Users may sometimes be interested in looking at a small number of signals over a longer time period. In this instance a wider display may be advantageous to allow the user to see more detail in the horizontal axis, either by viewing a longer time period, or viewing a similar time period with a greater zoom factor. Other times, users may be more interested in seeing a large number of simultaneously displayed waveforms in parallel, one above the other in the y-axis and time synchronized in order to draw conclusions about relative timing of multiple signals in complex systems. Or users may be interested in viewing the amplitude of signals in a higher resolution. In these instances, a taller display (portrait orientation) may offer inherent advantage to the user to be able to see that multitude of signals or higher resolution signals in sufficient detail. Manufacturers of oscilloscope and other test and measurement devices have traditionally hard mounted the only display of the instrument in such a way that made it impossible to offer the user the ability to select the orientation that best suits the immediate application of the user.
Therefore it would be beneficial to provide an improved apparatus that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification and the drawings.